J-William Posted February 24, 2014 Posted February 24, 2014 So, the topic of chronic pain has been of interest to me because I suffer from chronic migraines/headaches. Whenever I saw a doctor they always did tests or scanned something and offered very little help. I have for many years suspected that the pain is connected in some way to my childhood and how I was treated by may parents. But of course that was never suggested by an doctors I visited. Alice Miller and others suggest that chronic pain is related to childhood trauma, but without data that's just... well it seems to easy. I've always been on the lookout for a "gotcha" something to tell me that my parents were awful so I dont' have to confront them. Well I recently did confront them with spectacular results! They're out, but I feel like my life is actually starting at the young age of 31. It's funny how much has changed since then, I've felt better about myself, I've started writing again and that led me to writing on the topic of chronic pain. Much to my surprise there is a considerable amount of evidence for the theory that childhood trauma can cause chronic pain as well as other physiological symptoms in adulthood. Now that I don't need more evidence I've found loads of studies showing that physical abuse and other adverse childhood experiences are strongly correlated with chronic pain. I think in one study 55% of Migraine sufferers admitted experiencing physical abuse, that's not even taking into account emotional, sexual abuse, or neglect...So that is very strong.
Malovane Posted February 25, 2014 Posted February 25, 2014 I do believe you are correct. I've been dealing with chronic fatigue and pain for many years. My childhood wasn't great (narcissist psycho for a father), and my early 20s were probably even more scarring. Like most people, I simply repressed the emotions and tried to forge ahead. I believe this did induce long term pain, and that it's your body saying that you need to resolve an issue. Becoming completely independent reduced the pain and fatigue quite a bit, much like your case. Being around toxic people can take a toll it seems. About to start some of the "Home Coming" exercises by John Bradshaw to see if I can resolve the remainder. A little weird and uncomfortable, but worth a shot, eh?
dsayers Posted February 25, 2014 Posted February 25, 2014 This is a fascinating topic. Now that you mention it, I have noticed that I am able to sleep better since I've pursued self-knowledge. I used to have a very hard time falling asleep. Stef did an amazing job of helping to explain this in his recent video about drug addiction that was brought on by Hoffman's death . I've also noticed that when I do get less sleep than I should, I'm able to function better overall than I used to. Just another one of the many things my father has tried to hold against me over the years that he is in fact the cause of.
J-William Posted February 26, 2014 Author Posted February 26, 2014 This is a fascinating topic. Now that you mention it, I have noticed that I am able to sleep better since I've pursued self-knowledge. I used to have a very hard time falling asleep. Stef did an amazing job of helping to explain this in his recent video about drug addiction that was brought on by Hoffman's death . I've also noticed that when I do get less sleep than I should, I'm able to function better overall than I used to. Just another one of the many things my father has tried to hold against me over the years that he is in fact the cause of. indeed, I think it is a fruitful area to look for answers if you experience chronic pain. There appear to be a number of books purporting to help with the psychological roots of chronic pain, but who knows how effective that really is. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19845782 This is one study I was reading through. In a group of people seeking treatment for migraines: "Childhood maltreatment was reported as follows: physical abuse 21%, sexual abuse 25%, emotional abuse 38%, physical neglect 22%, and emotional neglect 38%." "physical abuse and emotional abuse and neglect were significantly associated with chronic migraine" Now I know I put " "Chronic pain is caused by abuse" in the title, but "cause" sounds so much better than "were significantly associated with" and also I have reason to believe that my childhood experiences are the most important factor in my chronic headaches. Also: Our findings suggest that physical abuse, emotional abuse, and emotional neglect may be risk factors for development of chronic headache, including transformed migraine. The association of maltreatment and headache frequency appears to be independent of depression and anxiety, which are related to both childhood abuse and chronic daily headache. The finding that emotional abuse was associated with an earlier age of migraine onset may have implications for the role of stress responses in migraine pathophysiology.
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